Burial vault



J. L. HALLEY Mgu'ch 5, 1957 BURIAL VAULT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 10,1955 INVENTOR. JAMES LEO HALLEY March 5, 1957 J. L. HALLEY 2,783,523

BURIAL VAULT Filed Oct. 10. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Vxgfll INVENTOR. JAMESLEO HALLE V T TOPNEVS yUnited States Patent l 2,783,523 BURIAL VAULTJames Leo Halley, San Francisco, Calif` Applictio Octoberg-19553-Sei'ial No. 539,587l

7`Claiin`s. (Cl.27'-'3'5) This invention relates to improved receptaclesor burial vaults for containing human corpses.

In my Patent No. 2,705,828 issued April 12, 1955, I disclosed areceptacle for containing' a human corpse that allows the fluid releasedby the decomposition of a corpse to drain from the receptacle and aftercomplete decomposition permits the drain outlet from the receptacle tobe sealed.

It is, in general, the broad object of the present invention to providean improved casket or vault construction thatftcan be sealed from withinthe receptacle or vault itself. v

Another object of the inventionis to providea unitary receptacle orvault that includes within its structure its Afurther object of thepresent invention is to provide vreceptacles or vaults` that are capableof use either ina grave or in a mausoleum where multiplebur-ials arecon-` templated, .and wherein after. decomposition of thecorpses in:eachvault, the vaults can'be separately sealed.v

I tlhasbeen the custom to enclose a bodyina casket which may or may notbe hermetically sealed, their on burial in the ground vthis Icasket is`lowered into a cement for wooden vaultthat is previously placed in theground;

It is Alenownthat the human body is composed oapprox imately 85% wateror liquidA and to this is added the rembalming. fluid. Therefore, when aIcorpse decomposes,

lie-in this putridruid, and in the event-,of Vdisi-ntermentof :the body,for anyY reason, persons disinterring. the corpse and dehydration of thecorpseis immediately drained'froiil theacompartmentin thervaultwhereinthe corpse i's l'oca'ted and is channeled into an asepticor septic'compartment wherein. said fluid can be treated to purify the-same andthen is .permitted tofv flow intoy thel ground: or intoaregular sewerdrain, if oneisavailable.- `An-fodor-testt can-bjc made from time totime to determine when decomposition and* dehydration of thebodyis-complete. Whenrthe body has completely decomposed' and dehydrated,then :the v ault itselfcanlze permanently andhermetiCalIy sealed fromwithin. vAlso by use voi the present inventiommultiple burials can bemade inthe same grave or in a mausoleuin `and the second: or third vaultcanbe easily connectfe'd tothe septic or aseptie compartment ot. thevfirst vault.' K

One form which the inventionmay assume is Sexempli- 'edfi'n the-`following. d'escription-and` illustrated b y way of example in'theaccompanying drawings', in which;

Fig'. l! is an end'view in elevation showing two vaults in use with theventI pipes and-'drains ofthe two vaults-shown. F;g;.2` tsaside viewtaken along line z+1 ernia-1 1', idwing'ne two vlts in' use with thevent pipe and -own aseptic or septic tank so that fluid emitting fromthe Y `vault during decomposition of the corpse can be purified and thuswill not be odoriferous o r contaminating and `can be, if desired,discharged'intoa sewer system.

.-a-qnantityof uidis released.- Ifthe-casketis-hermetically I fsealedandL iswater impervious, the corpse continues to 2,783,523Patented...ll/lar.v A5, 1952 Fig. 3 is a side view taken along line 3--3of Figad',

Fig.- 5 is a fragmentary view taken' along line 545 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the two vaults showing the arrangementofthe drain'pipes.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein similar referencecharacters designate similar parts throughout, Fig, l shows a multipleburial .wherein two vaults are employed, each containing a human corpse.The vaults are constructed of'water-impervious material such as concreteor like substance. Thelower or bottom vault is generally indicated at 10and the upper or top vault` is generally indicated at 11. The ylowervault has side walls 12, end walls 13' and 14, a cover 15, anintermediate bottorn .wall 16 and: a bottom wall 17. At one end of sa'idintermediate bottom wall 16 there is formed a sumpv 18. Saidsump isgenerally of rectangular shape and has an angularl-y disposed endV wall,indicated at 1,9.v The end wall-19 is angularly disposed to facilitate`the lill-ing` of thef-sumpf- 1,8-- with a settable material, aswill-'beY hereinf` after explained. A drain outlet 20 is formed in thebotl tom of said sump 18, saiddrain outletpreferably having a threadedscreenv 21` at the upper endthereof vthat is clis-l posed abovey thefloor of-th'eksump to prevent theY blocking orclogging ofthe drain byany loose,4 solid or semi-solid matter withinHt-he vault. A ball float22 is placed with'in the drain outlet, and said ball oatis insertedwithin the drain outlet by unscrewing thev screen 21 ,and dropping theball float 22 in-said drain. The ball is held-in place in sa-iddrain bya pin 23 thatisaixed to the side'of the drain .and prevents the ballfromk dropping completely through` the said drain outlet.- If, by any.chance, .the water level of the surrounding ground in which: thevault isburied should rise tor such an extent, and water should back up intosaid drain, said ball oat wouldseat-itselfon thevalve seat 24vand closesaid drainoutlet 20.

Channels 25 are formed in the upper surface26 oflsaid intermediatebot-tonrwalLlto directthel'low of uidinto thesump 18 andl drain-outlet20.J The said. drain outlet connects at its lower end with a septic oraseptic' drain compartment27 formed in the bottom'of the vaultby theintermediate bottom wall 16, bottom: wall,17, Vandthe lower: portionofthe' end wall 13 and` wall 28: VBottom wall 17 slopes slightly;downwardly away from wall 13 to facilitate the` drainage of fluid fromsaid drain compartment 27. Fluid passing through'compartment 27 can be.purified-,by any well-known method of lpurilioatiom WallZS h-asan outlet29 to permit the drainage of uid from said compartment 27. vA hinged-valve covers the outlet 29. This valve prohibits underground animals orinsects from entering the compartment 27,. and;:also in .the event the4water level shouldnt any time' riseto abovethe level of the valve, itactsto prevent-theiwater from backing up into compartiment 27.ln:theeventburial-is to be in a mausoleum, the outlet-29 canfbe threadedand'connected directly to sewer fac i l ities. An air space 31 isprovided at the rear of the valve 30 so that-.s aidvalveean atall times,operate freely andV fluid can easilydrainfrom s'aid compartment4 27.-through said outlet 29 and5valve 3 0. A screen 32f is placed over theopenend of said airspace 31 to stop bugs, insects, rodents or dirtfromenteringsai'd outlet and valve.

The end wall. 13 of saidvault lasincluded' thereintpipfes or conduits 33andV 34. Conduit: 33" passesthroughpnd wall 13 with its Vlower outlet3Sf terminating aqrecess said" outlet being below the uppersurfaceovoftheinter-g 33- attaches'bynipple "connection 37 to conduit 38that extends upwardly to ground level. The upper end of said conduit 38is closed by a threaded cap. Placed in said conduits 33 and 38 is ableeder pipe 39, the use of which will be explained in detail hereafter.f' In-the -event of a single burial, wherein only the lower vaultisemployed, said vault is lowered into a grave dug in thegroun'd or isplaced in a mausoleum." The casket containing the corpse is then placedin said vault and the cover is sealed in place. The conduit'BS isscrewed into the nipple 37 and a threaded cap is placed over saidconduit 3S. From time to time an odor test can be made by unscrewing thesaid threaded cap. When itis determined by the odor test that the corpseis completely decomposed and dehydrated, then the threaded ca p can beremoved and a sealing material can be poured down conduits 38 and 33,filling the sump i3. Any pressure of air formed in the vault, caused bythe introduction of a sealing material into the vault, can pass outthrough the bleeder pipe 39. A sul'licient amount of sealing material ispoured into the vault to completely seal conduit Y33 and bleeder pipe39. The construction 'of the sump 18 facilitates the complete sealing ofthe vault due to the fact that theupper lip 35aV of conduit l 33 opensinto said sump so that it is below the upper surface 26 oi theintermediate horizontal wall 16. Also the -angularly disposed end wall19 of the sump tends to force the settable material back upon itself tocompletely fill said sump i8. The vault then becomes hermetically sealedand if the body is later exhumcd for any purpose, there is no unpleasantodor or mess to contend with. This is also true if the body must beexhumed before complete decomposition and dehydration because all of thefluid formed by the partial decomposition and dehydration of the body isdrained from the vault as it is formed.` ln the ordinary burial,particularly where a waterproof hermctically sealed vault is employed,on eX- humation a foul and disagreeable condition is encountered becausethe uids occasioned by decomposition stay in the casket or vault andmake such a task practically unbearable.

When two or more burials are contemplated in the same grave ormausoleum, additional conduits, such as conduit 34, are placed in theend wall 13 of the vault 10 as shown in Fig. l. at their lower end inthe compartment 27 and at their other end at the upper end of wall 13.When not in use, they are capped over in the usual manner. The secondvault 11 has side walls 40, end walls 41 and 42, cover 43 and bottom 44.

The bottom 44 of the second vault has formed therein asump 4S with adrain outlet 46, floating ball valve 47 and valve seat 48 similar tothat in the first vault. One wall of said sump 4S is formed at an angle,as indicated at 49. This is so formed to facilitate the closing of thevault with a settable material, as previously described. Channels 50 arealso formed in the said bottom Li4 for drainage purposes.

The end wall 41 has an odset 51 formed therein. In said offset is aconduit 52. The lower end of said conduit 52 connects with sump 4S, andthe upper end of said conduit 52 is connected to a vent pipe 53. Saidvent .pipe 53 is closed at its upper end by a threaded cap 54.

The end wall 41 is formed. so that its lower face 55 is approximatelyparallel to the upper face of the bottom 44 and is below the lower end52a of conduit 52. By this construction, said sump 45 includes two wallsthat are capable of blocking Vany sealing material poured therein;namely, the angular wall 49 and wall 56 formed by the lower portion ofend wall 41. The said drain outlet 46 is constructed similarly to drainoutlet 2) with a threaded screen 57, lloat ball valve 47 and valve seat48. Said drain outlet 456 is connected to conduit 34 in end wall 13 ofthe said rst vault 10 which connects with compartment 27 of the said rstvault 10. Any

These condiuts also terminate 4 standard type connection is employed tojoin the drain outlet 46 to conduit 34. i

Fluid released as a result-of decomposition of the body in the secondvault will ow along channels into the sump 4S, out drain 46 throughconduit 34 and into drain compartment 27, and finally through drain 29.

When multiple burials are contemplated, the cover 15 of the lirst vault10 hasvformed therein two recesses 58 and 59 and the bottom 44 of thesecond vault 11 has formed therein recesses 60 and 6i. These two sets ofrecesses 53-59 and 60--61 are in alignment. 0n the first burial, dummyhalf pins are inserted in recesses 58 and 59. However, inthe event of asecond burial these dummy pins are removed and pins 62 and 63 areinserted in said recesses 58 and 59, and when the second vault islowered into position, the upper ends of said pins 62 and 63 areinserted in recesses 60 and 61, respectively. The second or top vault 11is held in place on the lirst vault not only by the connection of thedrain outlet 46 with the conduit 34, but also by the pins 62 and 63.

After the second burial, an odor test can be madefrom time to time todetermine the state of decomposition and dehydration of said secondcorpse and when, as a result of such test, it is determined thatdecomposition and dehydration has been completed, a sealing material maybe poured down vent pipe 53 and conduit 52 into the sump 45. Asul'licient amount of sealing material is poured into the said sump 45to completely till the same, thus covering the drain outlet 46, closingthe lower end of conduit 52 and sealing said vault 1i. Any air put underpressure by the introductionl of the sealing material can pass out ofsaid vault through the bleeder pipe 64. By this means the pouring of thesealing material into the vault is greatly facilitated as no backpressure is built u thereby.

Additional burials can be made using the drain compartment 27 by merelyplacing in the end wall 13 of vault 10 additional conduits so thatdrains from additional vaults can be connected therewith.

By the use of this construction sanitary conditions are greatlyimproved, for not only is the corpse permitted to dehydrate as a resultof decomposition, but the fluid released by such decomposition of thebody can be puriied to a great degree by passage through the draincompartment wherein said iiuid is treated by any well-known method ofpurification. Thus, any liuid ilowing out of the vault is free fromcontamination.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention, it is to beunderstood that various changes may be made in its construction by thoseskilled in the art with'- out departing from the spirit of the inventionas dened in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

l. A burial vault for receiving a human corpse, said vault comprisingintegral vertical side and end Walls, an intermediate bottom wall, abottom wall, a cover at the upper ends of the vertical walls to closesaid vault, said side and end walls, cover, intermediate wall and bottomwall forming a corpse receiving chamber and a drain compartmentunderlying the chamber, said intermediate wall being formed with a drainpassageway communicating between the said corpse receiving chamber andsaid drain compartment, a conduit connected at its lower end to thechamber adjacent said drain passageway and terminating at its `upper endadjacent the top of said vault whereby sealing material may beintroduced through the conduit to seal it and the drain passageway.

`2. A burial vault for receiving a human corpse, said vault comprisingmonolithic integral vertical side and end walls, an intermediatehorizontal bottom wall, la horizontal bottom wall, a monolithic cover atthe upper ends of the vertical walls to he hermetically sealed, relativethereto, said side and end walls, cover, intermediatewall and bottomwall forming a corpse receiving chamber and a drain compartmentunderlying the chamber, said intermediate wall formed with a sumpadjacent one end thereof, a drain passageway comirzunicating between thesump andsaid drain compartment, -a conduit formed in one end wall andopening at its upper end through the top thereof and at its lower end inthe sump adjacent the bottom thereof whereby sealing material may beintroduced through the conduit to seal said conduit, sump and the drainpassageway. n

3. A burial vault for receiving a human corpse, said vault comprisingmonolithic integral vertical side and end walls, an intermediatehorizontal bottom wall, a horizontal bottom wall, a monolithic cover atthe upper ends of the vertical walls to be hermetcally sealed relativethereto, said side and end walls, cover, intermediate wall and bottomwall forming acorpse receiving chamber and a drain compartmentunderlying the chamber, said intermediate wall formed with a sumpadjacent one end thereof, a drain passageway communicating between thesump and said drain compartment, valve means in said drain passageway topermit uid flow from the sump to the compartment only, conduit formed inone end wall and opening at its upper end through the top thereof and atits lower end in he sump adjacent the bottom thereof whereby sealingmaterial may be introduced through the conduit to seal said conduit,sump and the drain passageway.

4. A burial vault for Vreceiving a human corpse, said vault comprisingYmonolithic integral vertical side and end walls, an intermediatehorizontaltbottom Wall, a horizontal bottom wall, a monolithiccover atthe upper ends of the vertical walls to be hermetically sealed relativethereto, said side and end walls,`cover, intermediate wall and bottomwall forming a corpsereceiving chamber and a drain compartmentunderlying the chamber, said intermediate wall formed with a sumpadjacent one end thereof, a drain passageway communicating between thesump and said drain compartment, valve means in said drain passageway topermit iiuid flow from the sump to the compartment only, a conduitformed in one end wall and opening at its upper end through the topthereof and at its lower end in the sump adjacent the bottom thereofwhereby sealing material may be introduced through the conduit to sealsaid conduit, sump and the drain passageway, and one wall of the draincompartment being formed with a drain opening for permitting iluid todrain from said compartment.

5. Multiple burial vaults for receiving human corpses comprising a rstvault formed of integral vertical side and end walls, an intermediatebottom wall, a bottom wall, a cover at the upper ends of the verticalwalls, said side and end walls, cover, intermediate wall and bottom wallforming a corpse receiving chamber and a drain compartment underlyingsaid chamber, said intermediate wall being formed with a ldrainpassageway communicating between the said corpse receiving chamber andsaid drain compartment, a rst conduit terminating at its lower end inthe chamber adjacent said drain passageway and its upper end above thetop of said first vault whereby `sealing material may be introducedthrough said first conduit to seal it and said drain passageway, asecond conduit spaced laterally from said first conduit and terminatingat its lower end in said drain compartment and extending upwardly to thetop of said first vault, a second vault for receiving a human corpseformed of integral side and end walls, a bottom wall and a cover forminga corpse receiving chamber, said second vault being adapted to besuperimposed on the first vault, a drain passageway communicatingbetween the said corpse receiving chamber and said second conduit, athird conduit terminating at its lower end adjacent the drain passagewayof said second vault and at its upper end above the top of said secondvault whereby sealing material may be introduced through said thirdconduit to seal it and said drain passageway in said second vault.

6. Multiple burial vaults for receiving human corpses comprising a firstvaultformed of integral Vertical side and end walls, an intermediatebottom wall, a bottom wall, a cover at the upper ends of the verticalwalls, said side and end walls, cover, intermediate wall an-d bottomwall forming a corpse receiving chamber and a drain compartmentunderlying said chamber, said intermediate wall being formed with a sumpadjacent one end thereof, a drain passageway communicating between thesaid sump and said drain compartment, a first conduit terminating at itslower end in the sump adjacent the bottom thereof and at its upper endabove the top of said first vault whereby sealing material may beintroduced through said first conduit to seal said conduit, sump andsaid drain passageway, a second conduit spaced laterally from said firstconduit and terminating at its lower end in said drain compartment andextending upwardly to the top of said first Vault, a second vault forreceiving a human corpse formed of integral side and end walls, a bottomwall and a cover forming a corpse receiving chamber, said second vaultbeing adapted to be superimposed on the first vault, said second vaultbeing interiorly formed with a sump, a drain passageway communicatingwith the said sump and said second conduit, a third conduit terminatingat its lower end adjacent the sump of said second vault and at its upperend above the top of said second vault whereby sealing material may beintroduced through said third conduit to seal said conduit, sump anddrain passageway in said second vault.

`7. Multiple burial vaults' to be disposed beneath the ground forreceiving htunan corpses comprising a first vault formed of monolithicintegral vertical side and end walls, an intermediate horizontal bottomwall and a horiz'ontal bottom wall, a monolithic cover at the upper endsof the vertical walls to be hermetically sealed relative thereto, saidside and end walls, cover, intermediate wall and bottom wall forming acorpse receiving chamber and a drain compartment underlying saidchamber, said intermediate wall being formed with a sump adjacent oneend thereof to receive iluid from said chamber, said intermediate wallbeing formed with a drain passage forming a communication between saidsump and said compartment, a oat valve member and seat in said drainpassage to permit ow from the chamber to the compartment only, a firstconduit formed in one end wall and opening at its upper end at the topend of said wall and at its lower end in the chamber in communicationwith the sump whereby sealing material may be introduced through saidfirst conduit to seal it and said drain passageway, said one end wallbeing formed with a second conduit extending between the upper end ofthe wall and said drain compartment and spaced laterally from the firstconduit, a second vault for receiving a human corpse formed ofmonolithic integral vertical side and end walls, a bottom wall and acover forming a corpse receiving chamber, said second vault beingadapted to be superimposed on the first vault, said second vault beinginteriorly formed with a sump communicating with said chamber andextending into one end wall, the bottom wall of said second vault beingformed with a drain opening therethrough adapted to register with saidsecond conduit in the end Wall of the rst vault when the second vault issuperimposed thereon, valve means in said drain opening permitting onlydownward flow of uid from said chamber and sump to said second conduit,sai-d end wall of said second vault being formed with a verticalpassageway therethrough and extending from the sump through the top ofthe wall.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

